Mark Gatiss has spoken on Robot of Sherwood, An Adventure in Space and Time, Sherlock and much more n a new interview with Den of Geek.
Speaking on the now famous list of “potential Doctors” that Steven Moffat asked him to prepare (with Capaldi at the top), Mark says:
“We were having a Sherlock meeting in Beryl Vertue’s flat and it must be now – where are we? – I suppose it was about eighteen months ago? … It was just one of those things. Sometimes it just happens like this. It occurred to me how perfect he was for it, and then Steven asked me who I’d cast and I said ‘Peter Capaldi’ and his eyes just went… and he said ‘he’s top of my list’. After that, everyone you talked to… it was amazing. I think sometimes it’s just in the air isn’t it? I mean, I drew up a list but [laughing] I did, I left a big gap after Peter’s name. I actually remember putting “He’s the perfect choice. Does that rule him out?” [laughing].”
On the origins of Robot of Sherwood and writing for Series 9:
“It was Steven’s idea. Over the years I’ve come up with suggestions - I’m hopefully doing something for next year which is an idea I’ve had for several years that has been bubbling along. It’s sort of give and take. I remember Steven saying, ‘will you do Churchill and the Daleks?’, and then last year I’d tried to persuade him for years to let me bring back the Ice Warriors because I love them, and I’d also always wanted to do Doctor Who on a submarine so I put the two together and that became Cold War. With The Crimson Horror, Steven just wanted me to do almost like a Vastra, Jenny and Strax spin-off, but all the rest was my idea. And then this year, he said, what about Robin Hood? And I immediately leapt at it because it’s a bit like doing a celebrity historical even though he doesn’t exist. But more than that, I’ve always loved Robin Hood and particularly the Errol Flynn film, which I think you’d have to argue hard against it being the most entertaining film ever made. I love everything about that movie. To me, Robin Hood is a fairy tale. I’m not very keen on the sort of grunge-y versions, which try to add some sort of historical grimness, because I don’t think that’s the point. We know he can’t exist, and therefore, we turn up and he does and so the Doctor knows that something’s wrong, which is why we had all that fun with him speculating on possible alternatives, which presumably everybody else will be doing too. And there’s a miniscope! Which is a reference to an old Jon Pertwee story.”
On the characterisation of the Doctor and comedy in Doctor Who:
“Essentially, you start writing the Doctor - I’ve never actually had to write an episode where I didn’t know who it was going to be for - then you bring in elements of the actor’s personality. I’ve known all four of the Doctors to a greater or lesser extent, so that’s helpful, but then they’re playing a character. You know there are certain speech patterns or characteristics which you can bring in, and then as it evolves from draft to draft, you see bits of footage from other episodes and it starts to become a bigger picture. I knew what Peter generally wanted to do with it and the very fact that it was a less accessible, slightly grumpier, more intimidating Doctor immediately makes people think of early Tom Baker, so there was that element to it. In terms of physical comedy, Peter told me rather wonderfully, “I want the kids to think of me as a grey-haired stick insect” and it’s brilliant that with his coat, he looks a bit like Nosferatu, with that straight and buttoned-up look, and he’s all gangly hands. It makes for a wonderful silhouette. Putting that into the lovely bright, sunny Sherwood Forest was a treat. Then it’s things like, if the Doctor’s going to have a sword fight, then being the Doctor, he shouldn’t really use a sword, he should use a spoon, so that’s what he does.”
The full extensive interview where Mark talks about The Idiots Lantern, leaks, more Robot of Sherwood and much more can be found here.
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